(The Center Square) – Mercurial strategies of President-elect Donald Trump are sending Bo Hines into the new White House administration.
Hines, once endorsed by Trump and once in a primary where his opponent got the coveted nod, was announced Sunday as the pick for executive director of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets. The short version for that mouthful is Crypto Council, a release from Trump says.
David Sacks, the White House’s czar for artificial intelligence and crypto, is chairman of the council.
“In his new role,” Trump said in a release, “Bo will work with David to foster innovation and growth in the digital assets space, while ensuring industry leaders have the resources they need to succeed. Together, they will create an environment where this industry can flourish and remain a cornerstone of our nation’s technological advancement.”
In 2022, Hines sought election to the U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District. Trump backed him in an eight-candidate primary, and Democrat Wiley Nickel clipped him by 8,834 votes of more than 277,000 cast in November.
This year, Hines tried the 6th Congressional District and a six-candidate primary with no Democrat awaiting in November. Eventual general election winner Addison McDowell, endorsed by Trump, edged Rev. Mark Walker 26.1%-24.1% with Hines fourth. Walker, rather than a runoff with McDowell for which he was eligible and endorsed by Trump when serving in Congress from 2015-20, eight days after Super Tuesday accepted a Trump offer within the campaign as director of outreach for faith and minority communities.
When Walker opted not to seek reelection in 2020, plans were to go for the seat Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr was leaving. Trump’s endorsement, however, went to eventual winner Ted Budd. Walker, in an interview last month, said he’s talked with the transition team; a link to protection of religious liberty and campus leaders at historically Black colleges and universities is likely, he said.
In 2021, Hines had announced he would challenge U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx in 2022 in the 5th Congressional District. He later opted for the 13th in and near Wake County instead of the northwestern foothills and mountains.
Hines played football at N.C. State and Yale, earning his undergrad as an Ivy Leaguer and his law degree from Wake Forest. His most recent campaign was buoyed by Trump-aligned stances on immigration reform, free speech, economy, infrastructure, the Second Amendment and election integrity.
The website for that campaign says he’s owner and operator of several businesses.
